Chapter 2, wanted to make it longer but guessed it'll be nicer to build up the length of the chapters rather than jumping straight to 6k. What do you guys think?
I really struggled getting more into the fluff/relationship thing but I kinda like it, already dropped some hints in AOWF but now It's actually a serious topic..
Disclaimer:
Don't own YYH yadayada, English isn't my native language yadayada, please do correct reoccurring errors yadayada. Do tell me your thoughts and theories in the comments, they always motivate and inspire me with future chapters.
Enjoy and stay safe in these tough times. (Really needed some fluff during this 2nd lockdown)
"It's gone?!" Koenma slammed his hands on the desk. "You're kidding me, you're absolutely playing with me right now Hiei."
"I'm not." Hiei scoffed at the tempter tantrum of his supposed ruler. "That particular part of the forest is gone, end of story, now if you'll excuse me.."
"Do you know what will happen if it is what I think it is?!" Koenma caught Hiei's attention right before he was trying to turn and exit the room.
"What." Came Hiei's short reply.
"We've never spoken about it, ever, cause if other demon's know of it's existence, they will grow curious and start looking. We can't have that... Thing running around lose. It'll be the end of me and all three worlds." Koenma nervously fidgeted with the button on his collar.
"So what now? I did what you asked of me, spare me another." Hiei's jaw tensed as he met Koenma's gaze.
"I'll send botan out to fetch the others. We have something to discuss." Koenma motioned to a chair.
...
"... So I told him 'no' and absolutely obliterated him." Yusuke stuck his nose in the air, his confidence leaking through every pore in his skin as he told about his endeavor with pride.
"You kicked him out?" Kuwabara smiled, it wasn't that he didn't expect Yusuke to fight a customer, he never knew it would be because the bastard actually deserved it.
"I did, told him to never come back." Yusuke grinned.
"So I get you enjoy your new life in a noodle shop, what'd Keiko say bout it?" Kuwabara kept his eyes on Yusuke as they walked down the street.
"Oh she got mad at first, but after she detected the scent of booze and got cussed at as well, she agreed." Yusuke balled his fist. "Threw him out with one flick of the wrist."
Kuwabara just smiled, he was glad his friend was living the life he wanted, no more school, just work, picking fights and being with the girl he loves.
"So how bout you and Yukina?" Yusuke turned towards him, one brow arched in teasing curiosity.
"Ah I- uhm.." Kuwabara mumbled.
"Come on!" Yusuke exclaimed. "Don't tell me you haven't been working on that."
"I have!" Kuwabara lowered his voice as he felt the eyes of other pedestrians looking for drama. "I have. We've been on some dates but she's still trying hard to find her brother and I don't blame her. I don't even know if she's into me." Kuwabara lowered his gaze. "I don't even know if she's into guys, you know, when her entire clan is so anti-testosterone."
Yusuke padded Kuwabara's back in support as they walked. "Don't worry champ, if it ain't her, you'll find another."
"I sure hope so... How's your eye doing by the way?" Kuwabara flipped the conversation to get rid of the awkwardness building up inside him.
"Dude, do you have to ask that every day? I told you my eyes are as good as those of an hawk." Yusuke's index finger touched the tip of his thumb, placing it in front of his eyes to create makeshift goggles.
"So what'd ya see mister eyesight?" Kuwabara mocked.
"I spot a little bitch." Yusuke grinned.
"Who?!" Kuwabara watched as Yusuke's grin widened.
"Rosebud, our favorite flower boy. The one I trust with arranging the flowers to my funeral." Yusuke lowered his hands. "Kurama."
"Here?!" Kuwabara looked around frantically, he hadn't seen Kurama in weeks.
"No in outer space, yes here, idiot." Yusuke teased.
"I don't know." Kuwabara lifted his shoulders. "For all I know he's actually smart enough to go there."
"To decorate the moon with flowers? That's something I'd love to see." Yusuke chuckled.
They sped up their pace to catch up to the unsuspecting redhead. "Hey bud!" Yusuke slammed his hands on either side's of Kurama's shoulders, making him jump in surprise.
"Surprise seeing you two here." Kurama gave a jittering smile as he recognized the voices behind him.
"Been a while man, how've you been?" Kuwabara smiled.
"I've been good, thank you, how bout you two?" Kurama said as he regained his composure.
"I'm doing mighty fine and Yusuke just kicked a drunk customer out of the shop." Kuwabara responded.
"He deserved it! No one speaks to my lady like that." Yusuke crossed his arms proudly.
"I see.." Kurama shifted.
"Where are you going?" Kuwabara commented as he saw Kurama's urge to keep walking rather than standing still.
"The market, need some fresh ingredients for dinner. How bout you?" Kurama tilted his head to the side.
"Yusuke asked if I wanted to go and get some coffee, Keiko forced him to take a break considering he just threw out a customer." Kuwabara grinned, ignoring the annoyed huffs and puffs from the person next to him.
"Ah yes, completely understandable." Kurama did the same.
"Hey! How about we don't act like I don't exist, how bout you two catch up like the old married couple you are." Yusuke belted, earning him a warning glare from Kuwabara while Kurama laughed at his certain outburst.
"Talking 'bout couples." Yusuke arched his eyebrow again and Kuwabara sighed, he knew what was coming.
"What about it?" Kurama asked curiously.
"Glad you asked." Yusuke clapped his hands together. "Keiko and I are good but Kuwabara over here." He pointed his hands towards his friend. "He's having trouble with Yukina. Or shall I say, he doesn't know if she's 'into him' if you know what I'm saying."
"What are you implying, Yusuke?" Kurama eyed Kuwabara while adressing Yusuke.
"Well, we all know you have a certain 'thing' when it comes to women, a charm which this oaf doesn't posses. I get your relationship status hasn't changed a bit since we last saw you but I'm the worst when it comes to advise so please help a friend out." Yusuke saw it, when he mentioned his relationship status, he saw it, how he swallowed and seemingly choked on air.
"I have no clue Yusuke. I'm not the guy you need for this." Kurama tightened the grip on his jacket.
"Well Hiei isn't an option and Keiko will totally tell on us so please." Yusuke stared him down as Kurama desperately tried to come up with an excuse to bail.
"Are you dating someone?" Kuwabara budded in, having seen his discomfort he pulled the weirdest conclusion to again redirect the awkward talk to someone else.
"What? No I'm-" Kurama tensed again as Yusuke interrupted.
"Who is it?! Why have you not told us yet? Who is it?" Yusuke's eyes lit up.
Kurama turned to Kuwabara with a disappointing look but in return only received a muted mouthed apology from the tall teen.
"I'm not-"
"You are lying." Yusuke interrupted again. "You are lying, I can smell it."
"Is it someone from your work?" Kuwabara started digging as well, he felt bad for turning on him like that but he needed to escape from Yusuke's curious questionnaire.
"Ohh!" Yusuke grinned. "An old classmate? Is she pretty?" By now Yusuke and Kuwabara had practically cornered Kurama against one of the buildings.
"It's not-" Kurama tried dancing away from the conversation again, pushing past them he tried to continue his walk towards the market.
"Is it an old friend or someone new? A woman or a man?" Yusuke followed suit with Kuwabara walking behind him.
"Can you stop?" Kurama hissed.
"Not until you spill it." Yusuke leapt in front of him, forcing Kurama to stop. "Do we know this person?"
He sighed deeply as he spoke. "If it'll shut you up, yes, you know her."
Yusuke and Kuwabara stood flabbergasted as their brains processed his confession. "Wait.." Yusuke began. "You're actually dating someone?"
"Not really dating.. I'm just.. seeing someone." Kurama tried pushing past Yusuke without success.
"Hey hey hey! You're not getting away that easily, spill the damn tea, who is it?!" Yusuke kept a tight hold on Kurama's sleeve as he tried to make a run for it. "Is it Shirzuru?!" Yusuke screamed.
"Oh, maybe Yukina, that'll explain why she isn't interested in Kuwabara." A wide grin plastered on his face.
"What?!" Kuwabara tried catching up with them as Kurama pulled Yusuke down the street.
"Genkai?!" Yusuke's features took a disgusted look as he tried prying information off of their red haired friend, who was trying his best to ignore them.
A beeping sound made all three of them halt and stare at Kurama's pocket.
Reaching inside, he retrieved his cellphone, flipping it open after looking at the caller ID.
"Hi." He shook his arm furiously to make Yusuke let go, which worked.
"Ofcourse, I-", "Okay.", "Good thing they already ran into me.", "Right away.", "See you soon." With that he hung up and placed the phone back into his pocket.
"Your date?" Yusuke teased.
"We're needed in spirit world." Kurama replied, dismissing Yusuke's earlier question. He turned and walked the other way softly mumbling to himself. Yusuke and Kuwabara followed him towards the woods behind the park.
"But honestly Kurama, who-" Yusuke said after a period of silence but stopped as he met Kurama's angered stare.
"I'm not in the mood Yusuke." Kurama growled under his breath
"Are they summoning a portal here?" Kuwabara asked as he followed Kurama into the woods.
"Yes." Came his short reply.
Yusuke walked next to Kuwabara and whispered in his ear. "Geez, we really ticked him off, didn't we?"
"Yeah, I'm positive he didn't appreciate it at all." Kuwabara whispered back.
"Okay." Kurama stopped right before the portal. "Get in."
Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged confused looks before passing through the portal. The hot air from spirit world felt like a slap in the face as they stepped out on the other side of the bridge. Kurama stepped out last but didn't stop like the other two did. He walked past them, over the bridge and approached the door.
He didn't have to knock as the giant doors opened revealing a certain deity with soft blue bouncy hair, up in it's trademark ponytail. She waved at them with a smile on her face which quickly fell as Kurama got closer to the entrance. Yusuke observed her briefly saying something to the agitated fox, the fox replied something which was inaudible to them and the smile returned to the deity's face.
"You arrived just in time." Botan smiled as Yusuke and Kuwabara made it inside. "There is something serious going on in demon world and Koenma has requested all of your attendance, even Hiei's here."
"Wow, must be serious if Hiei's here." Kuwabara commented.
"He has already checked it out and confirmed Koenma's worry, that's when I contacted Kurama to collect you two and travel to spirit world." Botan motioned them to follow her.
"So you called Kurama?" Yusuke questioned, eyed the back of the red head who walked a few feet in front of them, never taking his time to stop and wait.
"I did, just keep walking forward and you'll get to.. Oh you know by now where you should be." With that, the deity took a small sprint to catch up with Kurama and pulled on his sleeve, asking him to stop.
Yusuke and Kuwabara walked past them with Botan motioning them to keep walking, which they did.
Botan waited for them to be far enough for them to speak at a semi-normal volume.
"What's wrong? You look like you got out on the wrong side of the bed." Botan frowned as she kept hold of Kurama's arm.
"I'm sorry." Kurama replied. "It's just that they keep nagging me about 'who I'm dating' and I've had it with them." He sighed.
"Who you're dating?" Botan scratched the back of her head. "So they're onto us huh?"
"Apparently.." Kurama looked away, softly shifted on his feet. "I can try and redirect their focus, though I think Yusuke will be too stubborn to let this topic go."
"How did they come to this topic in the first place." Botan grabbed his hand, examining the top she traced the visible blood vessels with her finger.
"Yusuke, out of the blue, asked my advise for Kuwabara's thing with Yukina. Told him I'm not the right guy for this and then Kuwabara himself turned on me by asking if I was dating someone." Kurama gave an awkward chuckle and shook his head.
"Seems Kuwabara sacrificed you to get out of an awkward situation himself. Did you tell them?" She asked.
"No." He replied quickly. "I didn't, though I did sorta admit I was seeing someone in the hopes to have them quit.."
"But it only made it worse?" Botan smiled at the thought.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Kurama began again. "I know we agreed to keeping this between us until, you know."
"Until we know for sure." Botan finished his sentence.
"It'll only make things extra awkward if it doesn't work out." Kurama watched her hands trace the lines of his.
Botan looked up into emerald eyes, their gaze have changed over the last few months, he only looked at her with admiration, loyalty and love but now he only looked puzzled, lost in what to do. She touched his cheek with her hand, he didn't turn away but rather leaned into her touch. There was just them at that moment. "But it is working out, isn't it?"
"It is." He smiled, the uncertain look in his eyes gone as she spoke.
"Tell them." Botan smiled back at him. "But only tell them when they ask again."
"Exactly what I was thinking." Kurama smiled back and tugged one strand of hair behind her ear.
"So, no need to be this moody. Let's meet hem at Koenma's office, don't want to cause any more suspicion by staying away for too long." Botan kept hold of his hand as she started walking towards the office, Kurama followed. They released as soon as they came close to the doors and Kurama placed his hands back into his pockets.
She opened the doors and allowed Kurama to walk inside who was directly addressed by Hiei.
"Thought it was impossible to be later than these two idiots, but I was wrong." Hiei scoffed.
"Nice seeing you here, Hiei." Kurama greeted, his frown replace by his ever calm smile. "They might share a braincell but they're here on time because I dragged them along."
"Hey!" Kuwabara was about to make another comment before Koenma cut him off.
"Save your personal problems for later." He stood on his desk. "Demon world is in trouble."
"Yeah what about that? Enki finally lost control?" Yusuke crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"This is beyond their control, Yusuke." Koenma handed him the document. "A demon tribe vanished together with an entire section of the forest."
"There was a gaping hole in the forest, there was no smoke or smell so it couldn't have been burned down." Hiei added.
"So we have to go there and investigate?" Yusuke lifted his brow in suspicion.
"Preferably yes, I would first like to know what it is that destroyed that particular part of the woods. Can't think of a creature who could do such a thing let alone find a motive." Koenma placed his hand on his chin, thinking. "But there is a legend about an ancient power or something."
"Ancient power?" Kuwabara asked. "Like folklore or an actual ancient power?"
"I don't know." Koenma answered, his hand still on his chin. "Demon's know it as folklore but I recollect hearing about it once from my father. It was sealed into three artifacts which were hidden among the three worlds by a spirit detective who served my father centuries ago."
"So what if this.. Thing, is real? What do we do about it?" Yusuke handed the document back to Koenma.
"I've spoken to Hiei about it and he offered to take it." Koenma averted his gaze to Hiei, sitting in the back of the room.
"Take it?" Yusuke was puzzled. "In the means of, absorbing it? Listen, if that thing you're talking about is real, I think it's not something we can mess with and have someone just 'take it' to get rid of it."
"I already posses the Dragon." Hiei spoke. "If someone knows how to deal with dark magic, power, whatever, it's me."
"He's got a point." Kurama budded in. "Besides, his jagan might help with sealing it. If Hiei was able to master the Dragon technique by absorbing it, he might be able to do the same with this one."
"True." Yusuke turned back towards Koenma. "So, when do you want us there and for how long?"
"As soon as possible, which is basically now until the matter is resolved." Koenma sat back down behind his desk. "So I suggest you grab some necessities from your homes and get back here as soon as possible."
...
They walked out of the office, with Hiei staying behind. Kurama stopped as he heard his name being called by a familiar voice. He turned and saw Botan approaching him once again.
"So I guess dinner's off?" She grinned.
"Duty calls, unfortunately." Kurama gave her a reassuring smile. "But we'll catch up on it, I promise."
"Must feel great getting back to demon world after Kuwabara carried you back to Ningenkai." Botan tried to land a joke but sounded more worried than she intended. "Be careful, I won't be able to see you before you leave, something about ferrying souls, the usual, but I want you to stay safe."
"I'll be fine." Kurama's voice was barely above a whisper.
"That's what you said last time as well." Botan whispered back.
"Did I? Can't remember." Kurama gave a sheepish smile, he hadn't remembered a lot from that time but he figured that was for the best.
"Just take care, get back in one piece and don't forget to reschedule our dinner when you do." Botan closed her eyes as she pecked him on the cheek.
"I won't." He smiled as he watched her leave for work, turning around he was met with the distant gazes of Yusuke and Kuwabara, waiting for him and watching.
"Ah shit." He mumbled softly to himself.
Uhoh, they saw. Kurama got some explaining to do.
See you in the next chapter!
(I will be replying to reviews in next chapters)